Which is The Most Scariest Horror Movie? Do You Agree?
The Exorcist Remains the Scariest Movie Ever Made. It is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and produced by William Peter Blatty.
It is based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Blatty and stars Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, and Jason Miller.
The film tells the story of Regan, a 12-year-old girl who becomes possessed by a demon and starts to exhibit terrifying demonic behavior that causes her family to seek help from two Catholic priests to try and save her soul.
Released theatrically in the United States on December 26, 1973, The Exorcist was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning two, and grossed over $441 million worldwide against a $12 million budget.
It is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever made, and its popularity has led to a number of sequels and spin-offs.
In 2010, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Evil in its Purest Form
What scares most people about The Exorcist is that it dabbles with the supernatural, with pure evil. That in and of itself has always rattled a deep fear in people that no ax-wielding murderer ever could.
Based on a True Story
The movie was based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel.
The story is based on the true story of demonic possession in a child from the Midwest. That is what is so scary about it…The story is genuine.
The Beginning
The Exorcist tells the story of an innocent 12-year-old child named Regan, her mother, and the priest who tries to save her soul.
Regan is living in Georgetown with her mother, actress Chris MacNeil and is a happy, well-adjusted child. The love between mother and daughter is clear from the start.
In one of the first scenes, we see that Regan is fond of using her Ouija Board and often talks to what she thinks is a friendly spirit, named Captain Howdy. But soon, strange things begin to happen around the house.
There are scratching sounds in the attic, which Regan’s mother assumes to be rats. But after a thorough search of the house, no rats around were found.
Regan then begins to complain that her bed is shaking and when her mother witnesses the bed coming off the floor, with the two of them on it, she turns to doctors for help.
It’s Just Nerves
Like any caring mother, Chris begins to consult physicians to see if there is something wrong with her daughter.
Regan is put through various diagnostic tests, including a pneumoencephalogram and an arteriogram. Still, doctors find nothing physically wrong with her.
Convinced it’s just nerves, Regan’s doctors give her sedatives and ask that she rest at home.
Doctors are called to the house as Regan is having one of her “shaking episodes,” and at this point in the movie, things start to get incredibly uncomfortable.
Regan isn’t just shaking; she is being flung dramatically up and down on her bed while screaming to “make it stop!”
To the horror of the doctors, her eyes turn completely white, and she arches her back up and lets out a horrific groan.
Then with superhuman strength, she smacks one of the doctors, sending him backward as she screams foul obscenities at them.
Terrifying Events Unfold
As Regan’s mother desperately tries to get doctors to find out what is wrong with her child, things begin to deteriorate rapidly. Regan goes from being a disturbed little girl to a sadistic monster.
We watch Chris MacNeil’s heart-wrenching battle of trying to save her daughter. We see Regan throw her mother across the room and nearly kill her with an armoire.
We see Regan sit up on the bed and turn her now scared and demented face completely around to grin at her mother.
And most disturbing of all, we see Regan using a crucifix in the most obscene way imaginable.
Call a Priest
At a loss for what to do, Regan’s doctors persuade her mother to contact a priest for an exorcism as they feel Regan’s problems are of a different nature.
Regan’s mother meets with Father Karras, a Jesuit priest who is struggling with his faith. He agrees to speak to Regan, and when he does, he seems skeptical of anything supernatural going on.
However, Father Karras soon begins to witness Regan speaking backward in many languages she has never studied. As she continues to deteriorate physically, the phrase HELP ME is seen on her abdomen.
It is then that Father Karras contacts the Catholic Church about getting the girl an exorcism.
The Exorcism
Together with fellow priest Father Merrin, Father Karras begins the ritual of exorcism. It becomes a very personal battle with Farther Karras as Regan claims to be the devil himself.
He relentlessly targets Father Karras over the death of his mother and even mimics her voice, which is incredibly eerie.
Regan displays such vulgar acts that it’s almost hard to imagine it’s a little girl acting out the part.
From head-spinning to self-harm to throwing up all over Farther Merrin (yes, it was pea soup), we watch as the two battle for not only Regan’s life but their own.
After Father Merrin is thrown from Regan’s bedroom window to his death, an enraged Farther Karras demands that the devil leave Regan’s body and go into his.
He is already struggling with his faith, and he can’t bear to see an innocent girl’s life being taken from her.
The devil accepts his invitation and leaves Regan’s body and enters Father Karras. However, before he becomes fully possessed, he hurls himself out the same window from which Farther Merrin was thrown.
This is Karras’s desperate attempt to save Regan and defeat the demon at the same time.
We see Regan several days later, back to her usual self with no recollection of what happened to her.
After being given a medallion that belonged to Father Karras, Regan and her mother leave for Los Angeles in the hopes that they will never have to witness anything like this again.
A Movie Like No Other
There are no jump scares in the Exorcist. Instead, its viewers are forced to contemplate real evil while watching a story unfold.
It was reported that people got physically sick while watching the movie, and some left movie theaters after their very cores were rattled with the disturbing scenes that unfolded.
The Exorcist is still considered the scariest movie of all time. With its mix of horror and religious elements, the film was ahead of its time and remains popular to this day.
Whether you’re a fan of horror movies or not, The Exorcist is worth watching for its sheer terror factor.
If you haven’t seen it yet, be prepared to sleep with the lights on!
